Dublin teen sent to rehab after admitting assaulting cyclist
A Dublin teenager who knocked a woman off her bike, beat her up and stole her groceries said he was "so drunk and stoned he had no idea” what he was doing.
19-year-old Joseph O'Toole with an address at The Nurseries, Mulhuddart, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery on Church Road in October, 2012.
On the evening of October 19, Joseph O'Toole and an accomplice attacked and robbed €100 from a man in his late 60s on Church Road in Mulhuddart.
Half an hour later on the same stretch of road the pair stopped a female cyclist.
One of them asked her what was in her bag before grabbing the bike and throwing her to the ground.
She was kicked in the face, head, stomach and back about six times and dragged along the ground by her rucksack, before a female passerby stopped to help her.
The victim said O'Toole looked stoned and had "wild eyes". Gardaí on patrol chanced upon the attack and chased the teenager who was aggressive and spat in a garda's face following his arrest.
Joseph O'Toole blamed his behaviour on alcohol, and has been given time to complete an alcohol rehabilitation programme ahead of sentencing.
